2017 - 2018 Nerd House Coffee Talk
Home of Ms. Smalling's Strong Brewed Crew, Issue 19
Finding Joy in Times of Tragedy
I was riding the wave of kindness, love, and joy when I came home from school after our party on Wednesday. My joy was cut short when I watched the news and saw what happened in Parkland, Florida. To say it was a tragedy is an understatement, and when I came back to school the next day, I wanted to hug my students a little tighter, make them smile a little bigger and laugh a little harder. I take my role as your child's teacher very seriously, and I will endeavor to keep them safe as long as they are with me. Most importantly, I will make sure that we find the joy in every day we are together. My hope is that we are able, as a nation, to find our collective humanity and celebrate kindness to one another, and that these senseless tragedies come to an end.
Valentine's Day came to room 305!!
A huge Valentine's thank you to all the wonderful parents who came to celebrate with us. Although I thought Bingo was fun, I was blown away by the kindness hearts. It was such a sweet moment for this teacher to see her students highlighting the best qualities of their peers. Thank you thank you thank you for adding this as an activity.
Calling all photographers!!! Continued Call....
The yearbook committee is calling for any photos you may have taken of our classroom. If you have any gems you feel need to be included in the yearbook, please email them to me, and I will get them to the appropriate person. A big thank you in advance for taking the time to heed the call.
Speaking Subject-ively
Our Week In Math
We have been very busy with fractions this week. They have been decomposed, equivalents were found, and they were compared. We will continue with fractions this week.
Our Week In Science
Weather has taken center stage this week in science. We will use what we know of the Earth's patterns to continue our study of patterning with weather.
Our Week In Reading
We have completed our fiction review this week with them, inferencing, and point of view. We will begin our review of non-fiction this week.
Our Week In Social Studies
We had great conversation and questions over the Alamo this week. We focused on motivation of the Mexicans to take no prisoners during the battle and why Santa Anna's right hand man refused to follow orders to kill the Alamo's brave defenders.
Our Week In Word Work
We completed our study of numeral prefixes this week. (uni, bi, tri, penta, quad, hex, and oct) We introduced the suffixes -y, -ly, -ily. Attached is a video for students to have additional instruction at home.
Our Week In Writing
After spending Tuesday grading the essays from the practice writing STAAR, we have a very good understanding of where the students are and what they need to be more successful. This week we spent time doing 11 minute essays. The purpose was to get students writing more in a shorter period of time and to understand that it is possible to write an outline of an essay with a small window of time. We will use craft elements this week to make our writing better.
Upcoming Events
February 23 - Go Texan Day
February 27 - Practice Math STAAR
February 28 - Practice Reading STAAR
March 12 - 16 Spring Break